On July 10th, 2012, the Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) of the European Parliament will discuss the unitary patent [5]. Following the vote in Plenary Assembly on July 2nd, 2012, when the Parliament refused the unacceptable conditions set by the Council [6], this new debate is an opportunity for the European Parliament to revise the text of the regulation to ensure a better balance in patent law1.
In opposition to last winter, when amendments were systematically refused in the name of the compromise found with the European Council and the Commission, the European Parliament today has the necessary leeway to modify the current text of the unitary patent and to ensure it respects our rights. As the president of the JURI Committee, Klaus-Heiner Lehne, emphasized, the topic has been reopened and everything can be discussed.
It is hence an opportunity for the Parliament to continue, after ACTA [7], to take a stand for re-balancing and respecting common rights. The unitary patent, at least in its current form, represents a risk of drifting towards software patents. On the other hand, such debates are a unique opportunity to go back on thise issues, and to put a firm democratic control against the European Patent Office (EPO), which has repeatedly attempted to legalize software patents2.
That's the reason why April invite citizens to contact the members of the JURI committee of the European Parliament to inform them of their concerns regarding the unitary patent, before the debate that will take place on July 10, around 12:00. we are offering contacting tools by phone as well as explanations on the issue [8] to watch and share, and questions that MEPs can ask [9] to clarify and improve the regulation.
- 1. For more information on the threats posed by the unitary patent, see the website of our initiative http://www.unitary-patent.eu [10].
- 2. The unbalance of the text in favor of the EPO as well as its legal uncertainties have been emphasized by Michel Rocard and Daniel Cohn-Bendit in a position paper published in French Mediapart L'Union européenne sous la menace des brevets [11] and translated in European Union under the threat of patents [12].